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Senators News: October 17th; Binghamton 3, Rochester 1

-Binghamton defeated Rochester 3-1 last night, playing their best hockey of season (including pre-season). There were far fewer turnovers and errors and much better flow to the game. David Dziurzynski scored twice (including an empty-netter) and Patrick Wiercioch had the other goal. Lehner was solid between the pipes. Here’s the game story (Pat Cannone took a puck in the face during the game, but was fine). Luke Richardson said the following:

I thought Patty [Wiercioch] really tried to skate and play physical. He’s gotten a lot stronger over the summer and he’s going to get better. He was out on the power play contributing and that’s something he has always done well at. Big Dave [Dziurzynski] and Derek (Grant) up front were great on the penalty kill but also helped on offense and that’s great to have. To have a tandem line like that that can play against the top line and stay together all night on the power play and penalty kill. It’s valuable. We made a few mistakes here and there tonight but 5-on-5 we were outskating people. We’re back on the ice Thursday to get ready for the weekend and we’ll start the planning for the three games.

-D. J. Powers has posted par-one of his ECAC preview. It includes comments about Tim Boyle from his coach Rick Bennett:

One thing about Tim that we were pleasantly surprised with is his work on the offensive blueline. He will need to learn to play within our system and just get used to the speed of the (college) game. I don’t think Tim has to worry about the size (of opposing players), but he’ll have to adjust to the speed of the game throughout his freshman year.

-Ryan Kennedy wonders about the way forward for the CWHL, posing the following question:

Do you need the NHL in order to legitimize the women’s game in the eyes of mainstream fans? And can women grab headlines outside the Olympics without Maxim-style photo spreads or skimpy uniforms? These are two questions I don’t have answers for right now.

I don’t think these are the most pertinent questions, but they are both easily answered: yes and yes. Women’s hockey can succeed without either the NHL or skimpy uniforms, but both would offer short-term benefits which (if the WNBA is illustrative) won’t create a long-term market. There is an appetite for women’s hockey in Canada, but the calibre needs to improve and there needs to be an evolution in marketing. When (or if) those two elements will evolve remains to be seen, but to me it’s never a question of whether it’s possible for women’s hockey to become a viable commercial enterprise.